Iron Man is about to get awesome again!!!!!

Earlier today at the first Special Edition NYC, Marvel announced it's first post-Secret Wars title, and it appears that they aren't messing around. Debuting in October, Invincible Iron Man #1 will be written by Marvel Comics mega-star Brian Micheal Bendis and red-hot artist David Marquez. Um, wow. The thought of Bendis writing the words coming out of Tony Stark's mouth make me REALLY excited for this book. I have to confess, I don't read Miles Morales, but I checked out some of Marquez's artwork online, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised by his art. Bendis gave a in-depth interview to USA Today.....because everyone at Marvel does, and here's the bullet points concerning the new title:

-The series picks up 8 months after the events of Secret Wars
-There will be new armor(so don't you worry, cosplayers!)
-A bigger, all new cast. But don't worry, Happy and Pepper WILL show up
-Tony's getting a new love interest. One that's SMARTER than he is!
-Iron Man will be getting a new, bigger rogues gallery (OK, WHY does every creator feel that they have to do this when they come on a book?)
-The book will deal with the fact that Tony is adopted and we'll find out just WHO his biological parents are.

-Sounds fun, doesn't it? I highly suggest you read the full article over at USA Today, Here's what I'm liking (And keep in mind that this is the inaugural announcement, the ones that follow probably won't be as ground breaking): Good talent on books that haven't really had a chance at the spotlight before. Yes, I know that Warren Ellis wrote Iron Man. You know what else I know? Warren Ellis doesn't stay on a book for any measurable length of time. Bendis does. He just finished, what FORTY issues of All-New X-Men, he's at 27 issues of Guardians of the Galaxy, and he's also writing Guardians of Nowhere, and Guardians Team-Up, he's also been on Ultimate Spider-Man for over...too many issues for me to keep track of. The point is, he's going to stick with the title for awhile, and that's what it needs. To be consistently good over a long period of time, that's going to draw readers to that book, and that character. Second, the artist. Great choice. Love the new armor design and what they plan on doing with the armor will really stretch Marquez's artistic muscle. Can't wait to see it.

-Plus, I like Iron Man and I feel that he rarely gives the attention that he deserves. Sure, the movies were hugely successful, but that didn't exactly get reflected in the Marvel Comic Universe and in my opinion, it should have. For your enjoyment, here's a couple of my favorite Iron Man cartoons. I would post comics, but 1)I have no clue how to do that and 2)It's illegal. So, enjoy!!!

What I thought of...Age of Ultron #8

Age of Ultron #8: This issue is a lot of talking(surprise, surprise). Wolverine has killed Hank Pym and is now back in the present, except it's all wrong. It's, by far, not the place that he left. Magic reigns supreme and the Avengers have disbanded and the only group of heroes is The Defenders. And Iron Man is dead. Except he's not. Or something like that.
The Good: Whew. This is gonna be tough, as I really didn't like this issue. The art was pretty good, I guess.
The Bad: Good Lord!!! This issue STUNK!!In a nutshell, it's the heroes of the "current" world are trying to figure out why there's 2 Wolverines (they obviously don't read Marvel Comics), and why Sue Richards is alive and what went wrong after Hank Pym dies. To some up...BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. Shit, this is NOTHING but talking heads. Yeah, there's some action, but it's pretty sparse, and the story doesn't really move forward. Basically, this issue could've been condensed into about 4 pages or it would've been perfect for one of the Age of Ultron one-shots.
The Verdict: PASS. Unless you HAVE to own every issue of Age of Ultron, don't bother with this one. Nothing happens.

What I thought of...Guardians of the Galaxy #2

Guardians of the Galaxy #2: Earth is attacked!!!!! With only the Guardians ready to save it!...because Earth has NO other super heroes on it capable of helping out (actually, that's explained).
The Good: Oh my GOD!!! I have to tell you, I was as big a doubter as anyone about this book, but man, was I WRONG. I totally thought that Marvel put Bendis on this book because of the movie, and they just needed to build up the Guardians of the Galaxy brand so that the "comic book audience" would go see this movie. But, Bendis has a genuine LOVE for these characters. What logically should be a HORRIBLE team, he makes a GREAT team. And the feather in the cap is Iron Man. The way he interacts with them is fantastic. I guess it's because he's been solely interacting with the Avengers for the past 50 years, but this is SUCH a fresh take, that I've totally fallen in love with the character and the rest of the cast.
The Bad: There's a part that I WON'T spoil that is just really unbelievable, even by comic book standards, that it was hard to get past. Also, we find out the reason that the planet Earth is "off limits" to the rest of the galaxy, and it's pretty underwhelming.
The Verdict: Pick it up!!! Yeah, there's a couple things that don't make sense, but overall the book is just plain awesome!!! I hope that this title continues for a long, lone time.

What I thought of...Age of Ultron #6

Age of Ultron #6: What can I say about this issue except HOLY $#!&!!!! There is a LOT of stuff going on in this series and this issue in particular, kicks it into overdrive. Some STRANGE alliances are made in this issue, some weird team ups are formed, and it's just pretty much all around fun.
The Good: Juuuuuuuuuuuust about everything. We go from Brian Hitch to Brandon Peterson & Carlos Pacheco, which is not to shabby and it's a natural transition in the story. It doesn't come across as jarring or forced at all. BUT, the best part about this issue......STUFF HAPPENS!!!!!....
The Bad: ....or does it? One thing that happens in this issue, which I won't spoil, well, there's NO WAY it's going to stay permanent which begs the question-is any of this stuff REALLY going to stick or have any type of lasting continuity in the Marvel Universe? Or, is this just a big budget "What If?" story? Only time will tell.
The Verdict: BUY IT!! It's a REALLY great read, you're going to enjoy it!

What I thought of...Age of Ultron #5

Age of Ultron #5: My God. The Marvel Universe is in trouble. With a capitol U. All our heroes are either A) dead because of Ultron or B) about to be killed by Ultron. Either way you look at it, the choices aren't that great.
The Good: The story. For some reason, I love end of the world, all the heroes put aside their differences and team up to take out the bad guy stories. Brian Michael Bendis has packed this story with that in spades. Besides that, there are some pretty big things that happen in this issue. Some things I fear that are going be very, very bad for the future of (this) Marvel Universe.
The Bad: I don't believe it. OK, look. We're all smart here. We know from reading Previews that the Marvel Universe is still going to be here AFTER this story ends. Even if it wasn't for solicitations 3 months ahead of time, there's no way Marvel would actually ever END the Marvel Universe. So, there's a limit to how much I'm going to be "scared" that Ultron will win and everyone will die. The other part that I wasn't really 100% in love with this issue was Brian Hitch's art. It seemed really rushed for some reason.
The Verdict: You're halfway in, why would you NOT buy it? Besides, despite the complaints that I have about this issue, it's still a really fun comic.

What I thought of...All New X-Men #8

I hate to sound like a dead horse, but I am SO not an X-Men guy. Until this book came along, that is. I admit, I expected a lot of people to bail after Immonen left the book, but that's not really happening. Sure, Bendis is writing it, but the premise is, from a distance, a little hokey. The 5 teenage X-Men come to the future to straighten out what Cyclops did wrong? Yeah.....right.

The Good: It's the X-Men teaming up with the Avengers!!!...kinda. Young Angel goes off looking for himself, litterally, and both Angels stumble upon an attack on Avengers Tower by the bad guys of Hydra. Except, the Avengers aren't exactly AT HOME, so it's an all Angel vs Hydra fight. Until the Avengers DO come home and then the X-Men get a stern "talking to" by Captain America. This issue works in several different ways. The "young version" meets "old version" gag is still entertaining and has yet to go stale. The interaction between young Angel and Kitty Pryde is REALLY great, and there's an ending that I won't spoil, but is almost jaw-dropping. VERY well done issue.

The Bad: Of all the issues in the series so far, this one is the weakest. Even though it's entertaining, the young Angel/old Angel stuff gets pretty old pretty quick because Bendis doesn't give either one enough of a personality difference. They're basically the same person, nothings changed about the character in all these years. Angel is one of my favorite X-Men and have NO IDEA what his current stance or powers are. I'd think a nice recap page would take care of this. I mean, after all, there's like 594 X-Men books out, you can't expect everyone to know everything. 

The Verdict: I'm gonna say......buy it. But ONLY if you've bought the rest of the run and want to have a complete collection. There's really nothing in this story that NEEDS to be told, other than Bendis needed to do an Angel issue. The shock ending is good, but nothing that won't be gone over is issue #9.

What I thought of....Uncanny X-Men #1

I've made no secret about this fact, I've never been an "X-Men" guy. I like The Wolverine, and I LOVE The Beast, but other than that.......I can take or leave them. My favorite X-Men title ever was the original X-Factor, which features the original X-Men as mutant-hunting government agents. Anyway, enough about that. Let's take a look at Uncanny X-Men #1:

The Good: In a REALLY round about way, this IS a tiny bit like the old X-Factor book I was talking about earlier. Cyclops and his band of mutants go around gathering up the brand new mutants that are popping up everywhere. Mostly, this issues takes place inside a SHIELD holding cell where a mystery man in talking to Maria Hill. It's written by Bendis, so it has an advantage when it comes to the talking head department. I have to say, more than any comic that I've read in a long time this book is not only entertaining, but INFORMATIVE.
The Bad: There's not that much wrong with this comic. If I had to get picky, I'd say that Bachalo's art on the action scenes are a little muddled and hard to follow. Also, the book has an interesting premise, but it's gonna have to do some pretty amazing things to make me keep up with it. It's a good premise, but it has the potential to get REALLY old REALLY fast.
The Verdict: It's a good first issue with some nice revelations and surprises. Whether it can keep it up or not will be something to watch for.

THE LIST for December 5th!!!!!

It's a great week for comics!!....AGAIN!!!! Here's what I'm looking forward to this week(and you should be too)

Avengers #1: I can't tell you how excited I am for this book. A non Bendis Avengers A-List book? SIGN. ME. UP.

Amazing Spider-Man #699: SHIT IS ABOUT TO GET REAL!!!!!!!!! No spoilers from me, but this book is kicking SO much ass right now, it's not even funny.

All New X-Men #3: Never been an X-Men fan, but this book is BEYOND fun!!!

Detective Comics #15: A Death of the Family tie-in!!

The Lone Ranger #11: Tonto's in trouble and so is The Lone Ranger!!! One of the best books out there right now!!

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #185: ZARTAN!!!!!!!!!!

-Head out to your local comic book store, and if you're in Chicago, come down and see me at Challengers Comics + Conversation!!! See you on Wednesday!!

Speaking of Awesomeness.............

All of my 3 personalities are SUPER excited for this comic. Cant' wait til May!